Willow Park School Sued, Accused Of Duct Taping Children For Punishment

The Galbraiths claim this photo of their child duct taped to his sleeping mat was texted to them while in the care of Heart2Heart Montessori school. (credit: Galbraith family)

WILLOW PARK (CBSDFW.COM) – A Parker County family has filed suit against a private school accusing one of its teachers of abuse.

The parents of a two-year-old boy say a Heart2Heart Montessori School teacher duct taped him to his sleeping mat. Another teacher texted them pictures of it.

“I was completely shocked. I was sick to my stomach. I felt an extreme amount of guilt for possibly missing signs of what was going on. I’m still shocked,” said Kristi Galbraith.

The lawsuit filed against the school and its owners, claims the Galbraith’s son was duct taped to his mat because he was fidgety during nap time. It also cites other allegations of abuse that came to light after the duct taping incident, including water being withheld from children to keep them from wetting their diapers.

The Galbraiths claim this photo of their child duct taped to his sleeping mat was texted to them while in the care of Heart2Heart Montessori school. (credit: Galbraith family)

“When we would pick him up from daycare he would be overly thirsty and we’d spend pretty much the rest of the day re-hydrating,” said Brad Galbraith. “We had issues when we’d go to try to change his diapers where he would just scream terribly and fight us tooth and nail, which he had not previously, ever. And then he would start hitting himself in the head which is extremely disturbing.”

The Galbraiths also claim in their suit that daycare workers struck children on the head because of wet diapers.

CBS 11 has contacted the daycare for comment, but Heart2Heart’s owners declined, saying they have not read the lawsuit.

State records show seven inspections of the school in two years with no violations.

According to the lawsuit, the daycare reported the duct tape incident to the state itself after learning of the pictures.

The Galbraiths say they were waiting to file the lawsuit until the state finished investigating. But the investigation is ongoing and the parents say they’ve lost faith in Child Protective Services.

“It makes you second guess what you’re doing with your child on a daily basis and it makes you very distrustful of the people you rely on to take care of your child on a regular basis,” said Brad.